Notice bibliographique
- Notice
Type(s) de contenu et mode(s) de consultation : Texte noté : sans médiation
Auteur(s) : Jones, Steve (1944-....)
Titre(s) : No need for geniuses [Texte imprimé] : revolutionary science in the Age of the Guillotine / Steve Jones
Publication : London : Little, Brown, copyright 2016
Description matérielle : 1 vol. (XXX-353 p.) : ill. ; 25 cm
Comprend : Preface: Confessions of a Soixante-Huitard ; Dramatis personae ; Prelude: A flash
of inspiration ; The wall of the Farmers-general ; Ashes to ashes ; Let them eat
chips ; Fire and ice ; Einstein's pendulum ; The empire of anarchy ; A degree
of latitude ; President Jefferson's Moose ; Handing it on ; Envoi: After the deluge.
Note(s) : Index
Paris at the time of the French Revolution was the world capital of science. Its scholars
laid the foundations of today's physics, chemistry and biology. They were true revolutionaries:
agents of an upheaval both of understanding and of politics. Many had an astonishing
breadth of talents. The Minister of Finance just before the upheaval did research
on crystals and the spread of animal disease. After it, Paris's first mayor was an
astronomer, the general who fought off invaders was a mathematician while Marat, a
major figure in the Terror, saw himself as a leading physicist. Paris in the century
around 1789 saw the first lightning conductor, the first flight, the first estimate
of the speed of light and the invention of the tin can and the stethoscope. The metre
replaced the yard and the theory of evolution came into being. The city was saturated
in science and many of its monuments still are. The Eiffel Tower, built to celebrate
the Revolution's centennial, saw the world's first wind-tunnel and first radio message,
and first observation of cosmic rays. Perhaps the greatest Revolutionary scientist
of all, Antoine Lavoisier, founded modern chemistry and physiology, transformed French
farming, and much improved gunpowder manufacture. His political activities brought
him a fortune, but in the end led to his execution. The judge who sentenced him -
and many other researchers - claimed that 'the Revolution has no need for geniuses'.
In this enthralling and timely book Steve Jones shows how wrong this was and takes
a sideways look at Paris, its history, and its science, to give a dazzling new insight
into the City of Light
Autre(s) forme(s) du titre :
- Autre forme du titre : Revolutionary science in the age of the Guillotine
Sujet(s) : Lavoisier, Antoine-Laurent de (1743-1794)
Sciences -- France -- 18e siècle
France -- 1789-1799 (Révolution)
Indice(s) Dewey :
509.440 9033 (23e éd.) = Sciences naturelles et mathématiques - France - 1700-1799
Identifiants, prix et caractéristiques : ISBN 9780349405452 (rel.)
Identifiant de la notice : ark:/12148/cb45299403p
Notice n° :
FRBNF45299403
(notice reprise d'un réservoir extérieur)
